Joe Bovino, a best-selling author and self-appointed expert (who also happens to be so brazenly ignorant and full of himself), actually wrote a guide to dating all types – or “species” – of Latinas. And guess what? Not only was it published, but it’s being sold on Amazon.
The description of the book reads:
How can you find and identify the right Latina to date, love or marry when the United States includes such an increasingly wide and confusing diversity of them? Three-time #1 bestselling author Joe Bovino’s latest #1 bestseller,Chicaspotting: A Field Guide to Latinas of the United States,combines the accuracy and precision of a bird guide with beautiful illustrations, outlandish observational humor, and keen cultural insights on every page. It’s the ultimate “chicaspotting” companion.
With its user-friendly trait charts, promiscuity ratings, range maps, and detailed descriptions of distinctive physical characteristics, behavioral tendencies, chica magnets, mating habits, and more, this incredibly well-researched guide is all you need to successfully locate, identify, and date Latinas from 14 distinct American subcultures (or “species”)…
The disclaimer attempts to veil its misogyny and racism with comedy:
If you’re easily offended, this book isn’t for you. But, if you like to laugh, this “funny because it’s true” guide will give you hours of entertainment and serve as a handy visual reference tool.
The sooner you get your copy of the first field guide to Latinas of the United States, the sooner you can become a chicaspotting expert, play the American field like a pro, and make more informed decisions about the right chica for you.
Um, no. Nothing about this is funny. In fact, considering Joe’s categories of species – Taco Belle (Mexican-American), Bumbshell (Brazilian-American), Cinnamon Swirl (Dominican-American), Hotemalan (Guatemalan-American) – one thing comes to mind, and that’s the ugly history of whites turning black and brown bodies into fodder for entertainment.
Chicaspotting: A Field Guide To Latinas Of The United States positions itself to be a literary human circus of sorts in which Joe gleefully describes the appearance of Mexican women, for example, as “recognizable by her dusky complexion with heavy makeup, brown hair, brown eyes, and facial features that reveal Native American ancestry. Normally curvy and petite or medium-sized, with large or medium-sized breasts and a wide butt that’s flat at the top and round at the bottom. Often out of shape because exercise is less emphasized in Mexican culture, but wears very tight jeans and shirts with a bare midriff to show off her figure anyway. Rarely wears unflattering gym clothes in public or gets tattoos, which are still considered trashy in Mexico.”
Are you f**king kidding me?
Yet, black and brown bodies as a form of spectacle dates back to the 1800s, when P.T. Barnum introduced the “Grand Ethnological Congress,” which later featured “freaks” and “monstrosities” for public viewing and twisted admiration. The female body, especially, was put on display to meet the crowd’s perverted demands (see: Saartjie Baartman).
Joe’s “guide” to dating U.S. Latinas is no different, as he aims to further fetishize and exoticize a group of women of color in a climate where black and brown bodies continue to be dehumanized. Not only is Joe’s ridiculous superficiality and promiscuity enough to make you scream, but his degrading judgment on Latinas based on neuroticism, nesting, friendliness and maintenance really pushes s**t over the edge.
Shouts to La Flama for calling a ban on the book. We’re right there with you.